I had read somewhere that is customary to also tip cleaners at the hotel using envelopes in America (maybe in this forum!). So when my spouse was in Austin, Texas for a conference, I gave him a bunch of envelopes with tips inside for everyday of his stay there.

The cleaners never took those envelopes despite them being placed on the bed, with the title "TIPS" on the envelopes.

That is odd. It is customary to leave tips for housekeeping in US hotels, and I've never had tips refused. If it was me I would have checked with the hotel's front desk to see if that hotel has a different tipping policy.

Well, we have never heard of tipping housekeeping staff until I happened to come across this (I still cannot remember where I read it). My spouse, being the stereotypical absent-minded professor was not going to remember these things, so I packed it all for him. I don't think he ever ran into any of the housekeeping staff - he left early every morning and returned late for the conference. So we have no idea if the staff can speak English or otherwise.

I remember telling him to put it on the bed after the envelope was left alone when he placed it on the desk. He would never have approached the front desk to ask - he is also the stereotypical introvert who doesn't speak unless it is about his research field.

He said no one was taking the envelopes and he thought that maybe I got it wrong. I thought so too, and forgot all about it until the recent thread about tipping. Now I am just puzzled...

I'd say 1 or two dollars a day is usual unless they had to really clean up after you or somehow went above and beyond . For that matter if housekeeping comes down to your room at 3 am to change the sheets (someone got sick in bed/diaper leaked kind of thing) you'd want to tip for that.

Back in the day, there used to be envelopes in hotels that had somethng written on the front about being tips for the maids.

(I am 46, but I remember this from my teen days and staying in hotels at the Jersey shore).

I have not seen any envelopes in a long time, probably due to cost of supplying them.

We just leave a few bucks on a dresser or desk of our room. For me, usually, I leave our tip at the end of our stay because I will usually put a notice out that we do not need maid service. If I need new towels, I usually see the maids at some point and just ask for them.